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Janet Gray Hayes died Monday at a retirement home in Saratoga. Her family says she suffered a stroke over the weekend.

Hayes was elected mayor of San Jose in 1974, becoming the first woman in the United States to lead a city of more than 500,000 people.

“She was a trailblazer who helped open the door for women to serve their communities in public office,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren said in a statement. “She was the one who declared San Jose to be the 'feminist Capitol of the world' when she led San Jose as its Mayor, with a female majority city council and a new female majority on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors."